Elderly man shot dead over carrom rent dispute

Kolkata: An elderly person was shot dead in a dispute over renting a carrom board at Kamarhati in North 24-Parganas on Wednesday night.

Two persons have been arrested by the police in this connection.

According to the police sources, it was around 11 pm, when locals heard sounds of firing in the Tutbagan area.

They came out only to find Jainul Haque lying on the road with blood oozing out from the wound on his neck. The sexagenarian was rushed to Sagar Dutta Medical College Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Locals said Jainul had a carrom board that he used to offer on rent. Every evening some or the other local youth would come and play. However, nobody turned up in the evening until around 10 pm.

On Wednesday, around 10 pm, four persons came and played carrom in front of the elderly man's residence.

On finishing the game, Zainul demanded the rent for the board, which he was refused.

When Zainul insisted they should pay up, a heated exchange of words ensued and all of a sudden, one of the youths took out a firearm, and fired at him. One of the bullet hit his neck and he immediately fell down on the road. All four fled the spot in the two motorcycles they had brought along with them.

The police fixed up two youth on the basis of CCTV footages available and arrested Akhtar Ali and Chotu for being involved in the crime. The sleuths said the duo has confessed they had fired. "We are grilling the two to trace the whereabouts of the other two who are still at large," a senior police officer.